Together Again

Over the course of the next month, Ash got tons of help from the guys, particularly Jinxx. Even though his friend was a single parent to his fifteen-year-old son, Logan, he was there for him as much as he could be. The younger man knew it was hard to be in a long-distance relationship, as that’s what his marriage to his ex-wife, Sammi Doll, had been before they ultimately split up. The only reason he was Logan’s custodial parent was because his ex-wife had decided that if she couldn’t have him full-time, she didn’t want the boy at all.

That’d pissed the older man off when he’d heard that, and not just because his hormones were out of whack from his pregnancy. If he hadn’t hid the girls from Andy, he’d have killed his lover years ago, if he’d had that kind of mentality when it came to Legacy and Magick. Although he was pissed that a mother could have that kind of mentality in regards to her child, he supposed that all that mattered was the Logan was safe, happy, and healthy.

Because the frontman’s house was a bit closer to the school, the teen actually tended to spend more nights there than he did at home. When Jinxx was in the studio, or doing interviews and photoshoots that kept him out late, he preferred staying with the man he considered his uncle. The boy had a knack for drawing, and he often helped him with clothing designs after he was done with his homework. It was something that kept him from feeling too lonely, as well as reminded him of having his daughters around. They often did many of the same things with him, and it made him smile.

Still, that didn’t stop him from having lengthy phone calls with Andy whenever he could. In fact, many nights, they’d be on the phone and before he knew it, they’d be listening to each other’s harsh breathing as they pleasured themselves. They never intended to have phone sex; it just kind of happened, mainly because he was pregnant and horny.

“Morning, Uncle Ashley,” Logan said sleepily as he walked into the kitchen. It was a Saturday morning, so he hadn’t bothered getting up at the crack of dawn today.

“Morning, Logan,” he answered. He was sitting at the table after making breakfast, his lower half turned sideways to accommodate his growing belly.

“You and the babies okay?” the teen asked, taking note of how he was turned.

“We’re fine; thanks for asking,” Ash laughed.

“I’ve never seen you sit half-sideways like that before,” he commented thoughtfully as he sat down with his own plate.

“Well, I’m not showing as much as I should be, but I’m just big enough that sitting normally is a little uncomfortable,” the older man chuckled. “It makes my belly press into the edge of the table, and that hurts a little, even without a kick right behind my navel.”

“So they’re active little boogers, huh?” his friend’s son chuckled.

“They’re actually like Legacy and Magick were.” He smiled fondly at the memory. “Legacy is the dominant twin, and she moved more than her sister. Magick’s the submissive twin, so she tended to try hiding in my ribs all the time.”

“Do ya know what these two are yet?” Logan asked, an excited gleam in his eye.

“Actually, I’ve got a doctor’s appointment Monday,” he answered, grinning. “They should be big enough to find out by now.”

“When did you find out Legacy and Magick were girls?”

“Right around twenty-two weeks, I think.” He wracked his memory, but was still unsure since it’d been so long. “I’ll be twenty-three weeks next Tuesday, so that sounds about right to me.”

The teen looked excited for him, and he knew that his daughters’ expressions would be similar if they were sitting there instead. Doubtless he’d be there with him, if only to mimic having the girls there, if he didn’t have school, and he appreciated the thought. He was just as kind and caring as his father, although he had a bit more of his mother’s outgoing personality to counteract that.

When Logan left to go to the beach with a friend, the older man sighed and cleaned up their dishes as quick as he could. He was pretty sure Andy was going to try giving him a call on Skype soon, and he didn’t want him thinking he was being a slob and letting his house become a pig-sty just because he was pregnant.

By the time he’d gotten done cleaning up, he could hear the sound of an incoming call on his Skype account, and he grinned. His suspicions were confirmed when he looked over the back of the couch and saw that it was his lover, which made his grin grow even wider. As quickly as he could manage without getting hurt, he hurried around the couch and plopped down on it. Ash made sure to answer the call before he even settled his laptop on what was left of his lap, that way the younger man wouldn’t think he was ignoring him.

“Hey there, Outlaw,” his lover said once the call was connected.

“Hey, Batman!” the older man answered, grinning widely.

“Mama!” the girls cried, popping up from behind the couch their daddy sat on.

“Hey, girls! Godsmack, I miss y’all sooo much!” he said, his expression turning a bit sad.

“Awww, Mama. Don’t you start crying on us,” they chorused. “School lets out next Friday for us.”

“Really, now? I thought it let out on the ninth,” Ash said, rubbing his belly.

“It does, but their grades are so high that they’re exempt from all their exams,” their daddy reported with a proud grin.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he laughed, his grin returning. “That means I’ll get to see y’all sooner than I thought.”

“Damn straight, Mama. Daddy’s getting his pilot to fly back out here that day so we can leave that night,” Legacy laughed.

“I can’t wait to see you, or our siblings, again,” Magick added.

“More like y’all just can’t wait to be back in California,” the older man laughed, smirking at how easy they were to read.

“Well, that, too,” they admitted. “But you’re more important to us than what state we’re in.”

“You know you can’t wait to experience a summer in So Cal,” Andy teased them.

“Enough, guys. No need to start bickering and arguing,” he cut in, wanting to nip any arguments in the bud before they started.

“We’ll catch ya later, Mama. We’re gonna go out with a couple friends one last time before we come out to LA,” Legacy said.

“I may not be there, but you just remember my rules,” Ash said sternly.

“They’re the same as Daddy’s: no drinking, no drugs, no sex. If we think any of that’s gonna happen, call and get Daddy to come get us, given that our friend’s picking us up,” Magick recited.

“There ya go, angel,” he chuckled. “Y’all behave and have fun, all right?”

“We will, Mama,” they promised, then waved as they headed out.

“So how’ve you been doing, Outlaw?” his lover asked once they were gone.

“Missing y’all more than words can say,” he sighed. “Being pregnant with your kids again ain’t helping that.”

“Awww, I sowwy,” Andy said, mock pouting. “But the girls are right; we’ll be out there even sooner than we’d planned.”

“Not soon enough to go to my doctor’s appointment with me on Monday,” he sighed.

“I wish I could. I’ve missed out on enough of my kids’ lives, when you add in the majority of Legacy’s and Magick’s with this last month,” the younger man agreed.

“It’s just gonna be harder than I’d like it to be, though,” he told him.

“Why’s that? I mean, I know you want the experience of having me there, so that’s gonna make it hard already…”

“Because I’ll be twenty-three weeks next Tuesday, and if I recall right, I found out Legacy and Magick were girls when I was twenty-two weeks,” Ash pouted.

“You can always tell your doctor you don’t wanna know just yet and find out at your next appointment,” his lover suggested.

“True, but I wanna start getting their nursery—or nurseries—set up as early as possible so we’re ready when they decide to come,” the older man pointed out.

“Eh, true enough. When do ya think your next appointment will be after this?” he asked.

“Probably not till I’m closer to thirty weeks, which’ll leave us with less time to get everything ready,” he told him. “Trust me, setting up a single nursery ain’t as quick or easy as it looks, but if we have to set up two…”

“I get what you’re saying, Outlaw; better to go ahead and find out than to put it off, if we can,” Andy said.

“Bingo,” he agreed, gently rubbing his belly again.

“Hmm… Ya know, I might be able to fly out there long enough to join ya for your appointment,” the younger man said thoughtfully. “I mean, surely I can leave the girls on their own for a day, maybe two, and get one of the neighbors to keep an eye out on things, just to be safe.”

“That doesn’t sound like a half bad idea,” he agreed, grinning excitedly. “I’m pretty sure even you’ve figured out that they’re pretty responsible, Batman.”

“That I have. Still, having a neighbor keep an eye out definitely isn’t a bad idea,” his lover said. “It’s a small town, and even though they clearly know how to use guns, it’d at least put my mind at ease, knowing they had someone to turn to for help, if they needed it, while I’m gone.”

“It’ll put my mind at ease, too,” Ash told him. “I mean, I know they’re eighteen now, and technically grown, but they’ll always be my babies.”

The couple chatted for a while longer, which included the older man setting his laptop on the coffee table to show off his belly. Once it was situated so that his lover could see, he stood up and rolled the waistband of his maternity jeans down to just under where the curve of his belly started, then hiked his shirt up. He stood facing his laptop for a minute so his tattoo was on fully display, as well, before turning sideways.

Andy couldn’t help the soft awww that escaped his lips, nor reaching out like he was going to reach through the camera to mimic caressing the small swell. That brought a tender smile to his sweetheart’s face, to know that, even with his belly full of life and growing bigger every day, he still thought he was attractive.

Knowing the insecurities undoubtedly going through his sweetheart’s mind, the younger man laid them to rest with just a few simple words. He told him that he thought he was even more beautiful while carrying his children than he’d thought he was when they were younger. His age and the maturity he’d gained in the last nineteen years or so just made him even more attractive than he had been back then. Those words man Ash blush furiously, as he’d never really considered himself very attractive when he felt like a whale, but he doubted the younger man would lie to him.

It wasn’t much longer afterward that he started yawning, his energy sapped by the babies just as it’d been the first time around. Andy started singing to him, a song he’d played for him before that he said was called Saviour, written because he’d felt his best friend was in need of one all those years ago. The depth of his lover’s voice was haunting, yet melodic, in ways he couldn’t describe, and his favorite way to fall asleep. By the end of the song, he was somewhat curled up on the couch and sleeping peacefully.

* * *

After ending his Skype call with his sweetheart, whom he’d sang to sleep, Andy closed his laptop and set it on the coffee table in front of him. He’d missed him so much over the past month, but that was nothing in comparison to all the years he’d missed him before finding him in the hills of Tennessee.

Knowing the older man was carrying his children this time, unlike when he’d run away all those years ago, just made his heart ache a little more. He’d wanted to be by his side every step of the way after he’d told him he was pregnant, but his safety meant more to him. If it was too dangerous to fly by the time school let out, he wasn’t about to put Ash and the babies in danger. Then again, he had a life back in LA that he had to get back to rather quickly, so waiting till it was safe for him to fly again wasn’t exactly an option, either.

He was just glad that their daughters were doing so well that they were exempt from exams, meaning that they’d all be reunited even sooner. They’d planned on leaving the night school officially let out, which was on June ninth. However, with Legacy and Magick being exempt from exams and refusing to go to graduation, now that he’d found out they were seniors, that changed their plans a bit.

If he were honest with himself, since his daughters were exempt from exams and didn’t want to walk during graduation, Andy was just eager to get back to his sweetheart. As far as he was concerned, now that they’d reconnected, home wasn’t necessarily the place he called such; home was wherever his beloved Outlaw was. Right now, said Outlaw was living in his house in LA, and even if he hadn’t been living there for nearly twenty years, that place was definitely his home now. He was more excited to go to Southern California now than he had been in his late-teens when he wanted to get Black Veil Brides off the ground.

The sudden ringing of his phone startled him, and he knew it couldn’t be good since it was the twins’ ring tone. “Hello?” he asked, trying not to leat his fear color his voice.

“Is this Andy?” someone countered. The person was obviously female with an accent as thick as his daughters’, but it was neither Legacy, nor Magick.

“This is he. Might I ask who’s calling?” he asked.

“This is Legacy’s and Magick’s friend, Keily. I need ya to come down to Jefferson Memorial Hospital,” the girl told him.

“My Godsmack, what happened?” Andy demanded. He already knew it wasn’t good if their friend was telling him that.

“One of the most well-known bullies from school attacked Magick outside the theatre we were going to. Legacy, being the older sibling and dominant twin that she is, pulled the idiot off her,” she explained. “The bitch wasn’t satisfied with Legacy fighting for her and sicced her boyfriend on her.”

“You’re fucking shitting me!” he exploded, seeing twenty different shades of red.

“I wish I were, Andy. Legacy barely managed to tell me to call you before she passed out,” the girl said sadly.

“Have they given you any information about their conditions?” Being their father, he wanted to know how they were doing.

“Magick had a few cuts, scrapes, and bruises when they were loaded up because Legacy managed to get her attacker off quick enough,” Keily told him. “Legacy, on the other hand…well, the last I saw of her, she’d just passed out, and they won’t tell me anything since I’m not her family.”

“I’ll be there in a little bit,” he promised her. “If Magick’s awake and they’ll let her see you, tell her I’m on my way.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry to have to call and tell ya this,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it, Keily; you did the right thing by calling me,” Andy answered. “In fact, I greatly appreciate it.”

Within moments of getting off the phone with the girls’ friend, he was on the phone, trying to get in touch with his sweetheart. He hoped he’d since woken up from his nap, considering that it’d been three hours since he’d sang him to sleep. If he hadn’t and he woke him up, he hoped Ash wouldn’t be too pissed at him.

“Hello?” the older man answered sleepily, obviously rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, sweetheart,” he said, sounding a bit frantic.

“Andy? What’s wrong?” his sweetheart asked, immediately sounding more alert than he had before.

“Have you listed me as the girls’ father since we reconnected?” Andy asked, cutting right to the chase.

“Yeah, I have. Why?” he asked, sounding scared now.

“Because I just got a bad call from one of their friends. Apparently Magick’s being bullied at school, and it all came to a head a little while ago,” the younger man answered.

“What!?” Ash screamed, clearly jumping up to pace.

“The way their friend made things out, some little tramp jumped Magick outside the theatre they were going to, and Legacy jumped in to protect her,” he said. “The tramp wasn’t happy with that, so she decided to sic her boyfriend on Legacy. According to their friend, Magick’s just a little beat up, nothing too bad, but Legacy…”

“What do ya know about Legacy’s condition?” the older man demanded. He had no doubt he was cradling his belly as he paced through his living room.

“The last their friend saw of her, she’d passed out; she didn’t say if it was before or after the ambulance got there or not,” he answered. “The doctors and nurses won’t tell her anything since she’s not family, so I’m about to head to Jefferson Memorial now.”

“Since I still haven’t reached the point of it being dangerous to fly, I’ll fly back out there, if I have to,” his sweetheart swore.

“You know you don’t have to do that, Outlaw,” Andy told him.

“I don’t care; this is the child I carried under my heart and raised we’re talking about here,” he retorted.

“I know that, sweetheart. I’m just thinking of the babies you’re currently carrying under said heart,” the younger man said.

“Even if I don’t fly back out there, just keep me updated,” Ash begged. “I had a bad enough scare when I was in labor and they told me Magick was going into distress not once, but twice. I don’t have it in me to bury one of my babies.”

“I don’t, either. And you know I’ll keep you updated whenever I get an update,” he promised.

“I love you so much, Batman. Tell my babies that I love ’em, too,” his sweetheart begged, clearly choked up now.

“I’ll tell them, Ashie. You just try to calm down so we don’t have our other little ones too soon,” Andy said. “And I love you just as much.”

After getting off the phone with Ash, he high-tailed it out to the older man’s Mustang, which he’d turned over the keys to before flying to LA. He didn’t know how far it was to the hospital Keily’d told him to come to, although he doubted it was very far. Things seemed to be spaced about as evenly here as they were in LA, and besides, he’d drive halfway across the country for his babies, if he had to. Hell, he’d already flown all the way across the country for them; driving halfway was nothing.

The whole ride to the hospital, Andy was forcing himself to stay calm, but it took a lot of work on his part. He was terrified that Legacy was in a coma, or even worse, brain dead. If she was brain dead, he knew he’d have to call his sweetheart and have him fly out here; a decision like taking her off life support shouldn’t be made over the phone.

As he walked through the doors of the ER a short time later, the younger man said a quick prayer to any and all deities out there who’d listen. He prayed that his daughter would be fine, even if it took some time, but most importantly, he prayed she lived. He prayed that she’d live long enough to go out to California, that she’d live long enough to see her mama again. If nothing else, he wanted her to see Ash again.

Notes